Supporters of Initiative Petition 43 gather to drop off more than 3,000 signatures to be verified. The initiative would restrict the sale, production and ownership of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

A new initiative petition filed Monday with the Oregon Secretary of State would require gun owners to use safety devices in the storage and transfer of firearms and to report a stolen or lost gun within 24 hours.

If a gun owner failed to do so, and the gun is used to injury a person or property within the next five years, the gun owner could face liability for that harm. That wouldn't apply in cases of self defense.

Guns for sale at Gun Crafters, Firearms and More in Salem on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016.

Guns for sale at Gun Crafters, Firearms and More in Salem on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016.

ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

The law also would require a gun owner to directly supervise a minor using their gun.

Initiative Petition 44 is being pushed by Oregonians for Safe Gun Storage, a newly formed group "galvanized by the continued epidemic of gun violence," according to its website.

The group's goal is to qualify the initiative for the November general election ballot.

If approved by voters, it would require a gun owner to store a firearm using a trigger or cable lock, or in a locked container. Failure to do so would constitute a Class C violation.

However, such an infraction becomes a Class A violation if the owner "knew or should have known that a minor could gain unauthorized access to the firearm."

The storage requirements would be the same during the selling, gifting or loaning of a gun.

The Oregon Legislature has taken up similar legislation in the past, aimed at protecting minors from firearms by creating safe storage requirements. An attempt in 2015 did not make it out of committee in the Senate.

"The majority of Oregon gun owners are responsible and already practice safe gun storage," chief petitioner Henry Wessinger said in a statement. "It is past time to set standards and consequences for the minority of Oregon gun owners who create tragic situations for others because of their negligence."

This is the second gun-related initiative filed in as many weeks.

The first — IP 43, filed March 22 — would ban the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. It would require current gun owners to do one of the following with applicable firearms or high-capacity magazines: register them with the state, sell them to a registered dealer, remove them from the state, render them inoperable or surrender them to law enforcement.

This initiative sparked an outcry from gun-rights advocates locally and across the country, who called it an infringement on Second Amendment rights.

An interfaith group of religious leaders from Portland is spearheading that initiative with high school students. A few dozen advocates dropped off 3,443 signatures to the Secretary of State's office March 26.

If the Secretary of State verifies that there are at least 1,000 valid signatures, the Attorney General will begin the ballot title drafting process.

Petitioners for the storage initiative still have to file their first 1,000 signatures, but say they hope to do so later this week.

Because of their relatively late dates of the initial filing, both initiatives face a difficult timeline to make it to the November ballot.

Petitioners must submit 88,184 valid signatures by July 6. The initiatives will likely be appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court — as most currently circulating petitions have — and resolution of these cases usually takes between two and six months.

Petitioners cannot gather signatures during a legal appeal, which means they could have very little time left to do so once the review concludes.

Contact the reporter at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich